My New Favorite Cocktail

Every hour is happy hour with this delicious cocktail!

My go-to cocktail is usually a Dragonfly (gin, ginger ale, lime), but lately, I've been looking for a new drink -- preferably one that isn't named after an insect that terrifies me. (Yes, I do run and hide when I see one. The insect, not the drink.)

So, I was thrilled when I turned the page of a recent issue of Bon Appétit magazine and saw my new favorite cocktail staring back at me. I got up off the couch and made a batch immediately. It doesn't hurt that I have a gorgeous patch of tarragon growing in a planter on the patio. (I may actually need to plant a few more, because I plan on drinking this all summer long.) Also, our recent SodaStream purchase is again being put to good use.

The recipe below comes from that BA issue, but I changed up the club soda instructions a bit: instead of mixing the club soda with the gin, St-Germain, and lemon juice in the pitcher, I added it to each glass. (I didn't want it to go flat.) If you're serving more than two glasses at a time, feel free to pour the soda in with the gin as the magazine instructs. Also, I didn't have St-Germain in the house, so I reduced the amount of sugar and used elderflower cordial, which I happened to find in the fridge.

Gourmess Archives

My Motto

About Me

I'm a petite but powerful marketing maven who should have gone to culinary school. Or moved to France. When I'm not at my day job in NYC, I spend most of my time in the kitchen coming up with creative cookery ideas. There is usually a mess involved. (Hence the GourMESS title.)

Cookery Experience

For six months in 2010, I taught myself the French Culinary Institute's official textbook, The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine, and prepared (and blogged about) every demonstration in the course.

On Making a Mess of Things

“I would far prefer to have things happen as they naturally do, such as the mousse refusing to leave the mold, the potatoes sticking to the skillet, the apple charlotte slowly collapsing. One of the secrets of cooking is to learn to correct something if you can, and bear with it if you cannot.” ― Julia Child